Kansas City Chiefs: Patrick Mahomes will either make or break the franchise

The hype surrounding Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is so huge that if he fails, it will set the franchise back a decade or more.

Perhaps you’ve heard of Patrick Mahomes. He’s a quarterback out of Whitehouse, Texas that played his college ball at Texas Tech University. The Kansas City Chiefs traded up to get him with the 10th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.

The Kansas City Chiefs traded a pretty good quarterback this offseason to give Mahomes the starting job. They’ve manipulated the roster to fit his style of play. Kansas City also changed their offense to better fit what Mahomes likes to do.

In a sense, the Chiefs have put every proverbial egg in one proverbial basket. They did so because of his raw and unique skill set, his God-given talent, his will to win, and his approach. Mahomes has done everything right up to this point on and off the field.

The hype comes from but a small dose of what the public has seen. He showed off his arm and his ability to throw amazing throws last preseason and he brought the Chiefs back to win in week 17 against the Denver Broncos after temporarily leaving the game with a nice cushion.

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Everything beyond that comes from hearsay and grainy cell phone videos of plays in practice. This was enough for Clark Hunt, Brett Veach, and Andy Reid to put all their chips on the table. This is a move that could pay unlimited dividends or absolutely ruin careers and a franchise.

The Chiefs are possibly best known for being that one team that just can’t get over the hump. This has been the case for over two decades. They aren’t known for being a poor franchise, just one that can’t win a football game when it matters. Ever.

This had gone on long enough when the Chiefs finally decided to do something drastic. They traded up to get a gunslinger for a quarterback, even though they had put together five straight winning seasons and two straight division titles. They did so because much like the ’90s and early 00’s, the Chiefs won plenty of ball games, but never did anything during the playoffs. Ever.

The difference’s between Mahomes and the man he replaced, Alex Smith, are night and day. Smith was a protector of the ball. He was very careful with his decision making, and although he didn’t throw many interceptions, he didn’t necessarily scare away any defenses. This gave him that absolute horrid title of game-manager.

When Andy Reid came to Kansas City his first item of business was to bring in Smith and it worked. The season before they arrived they won two games. Two. Since then they made the playoffs each year except one and even that year they finished with a winning record.

Mahomes is one of the most intriguing stories of the 2018 season. Not just for his unearthly attributes, but because of the unknown. The Chiefs were good with Smith, and everyone knew they would be good each season with him under center.

The people in Mahomes corner believe the Chiefs will be a much better team with him than before. Those in the opposite corner believe the Chiefs are still looking at a couple years before he is ready for such a task. The guys and gal from GoodMorningFootball on the NFL network think his time is now.

The other quarterback the Chiefs could have grabbed with that 10th pick was Deshaun Watson. He didn’t need any time to make a difference for the Texans organization. Watson came right out and wowed the NFL before he suffered a season-ending injury last year. So the debate of how long a player needs before he is ready is an unknown argument from both sides.

If Patrick Mahomes ends up being half the player everyone is hyping him up to be, he'll still be better than Peyton Manning.
— Matt Verderame (@MattVerderame) May 31, 2018

If Mahomes lives up to the hype, then yes, he will be one of the best quarterbacks the league has ever seen. This will be the best thing that has ever happened to the organization. Playoff wins, possible Super Bowl appearances, individual and team records being broken, the list goes on and on. What if Mahomes is a bust?

If Patrick comes out and throws the ball to the opposing team often, the Chiefs will lose. Say what you will about the defense this year, but they will have a hard time keeping the team afloat if they have to work with a short field game in and game out.

The team doesn’t have anyone else to turn to, so this means that Chiefs fans will have to witness Mahomes growing pains for the duration of the year. There is so much built up around him that even if the Chiefs are dwelling near the bottom of the league come season’s end, he will still be the quarterback in 2019.

If these said problems were to continue, the Chiefs will be looking at an epic slide. This type of thing happens all the time with teams around the league, sometimes causing a downward spiral so intense, they become the Cleveland Browns. The Browns have drafted or traded for their quarterback of the future time and time again, failing each and every time. This has caused them to suit up somewhere between 10 and 50 different quarterbacks since they returned to the league in 1999.

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It could happen to the Chiefs. There are so much pressure and weight on this young man’s shoulders to save this team. Not from the cellar, but from mediocrity.

The good thing is, you can’t tell. He’s been as cool as a cucumber since entering the league. His confidence in himself and this team is contagious. There isn’t any doubt that he wants to lead this team to greatness, and he believes he can. So do I, and so do many of you.